Motion of the SunOnce people figured out how the stars moved - or thought they did - they could turn their attention to the next object - the Sun. Unfortunately, its motion isn't easy to understand. The Sun's path varies over the course of the year. Sometimes it rises in the northeast, and sometimes it rises in the southeast. Only on two days does it rise directly in the East and set directly in the West. These special dates are known as the Equinoxes. To give you their full names, they are the Vernal Equinox, which is around March 21, and the Autumnal Equinox, which is around September 21. You may recognize these dates as the beginnings of the seasons of Spring and Autumn. These dates - the Equinoxes - have nothing to do with the weather; they have to do with the location of the Sun relative to the Celestial Equator. Now for the rest of the year, the Sun's path and its rising and setting locations vary. As seen from Iowa, during the winter the Sun rises in the southeast and sets in the southwest. In the summer it rises in the northeast and sets in the northwest. There are two days when the rising and setting

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